Natural gynecology is a women’s movement that seeks self-knowledge. Beyond that, it is a political one, because from the moment a woman knows her body, her cycles, and empowers herself, a process of autonomy arises to make decisions about the body. The previous brief explanation made by the nurse, acupuncturist, and Ph.D. student in tocogynecology at Unicamp, Elaine Lopes Garcia, clarifies the second wave of feminism and all the questions about bringing the woman to the center of her own body.
This movement of observation, of greater attention to the menstrual cycles and self-knowledge, has gained more and more space, which expands the dissemination of false and confusing information. “I believe there is a confusion in the terms”, explains Elaine. “Gynecology is a medical term. Natural Gynecology is a process of self-knowledge, a movement of women”, she adds.
The follow-up with a natural gynecology specialist does not dispense the conventional medicine, according to her. “It does not mean that the woman will not seek doctors and professional service. Yes, she will need it”, says the nurse.
“The purpose of natural gynecology is not about change, it is about follow-up”, she defends. She argues that there are women who can only do natural follow-up and women who also need the support of conventional gynecology.
This movement rescues the knowledge about the female body and, as believed by Elaine, it is exactly because of the process of self-knowledge that we can benefit from it. “It is beyond the process of conventional medicine”, defends her.
The nurse reports that the rituals of gynecology are the rituals of women, who have been known for thousands of years. “They are rescued in the collective and not in the individual. We have many groups of people that sit around each other and not only inside the natural gynecology”, says Elaine. An example is the Moon Mandala, a writing and painting ritual where the woman describes her emotions and physical reactions for a better understanding of her menstrual cycle.
The rituals have a connection with the internal healing process. Due to this fact, exams like pap tests and mammograms are indispensable because they are a way to prevent cervical and breast cancer.
Also, Elaine denounces the way how the gynecological exams are treated here in Brazil and defends that the pap test is collected improperly: “The Ministry of Health recommends that the exam should be done every three years if the woman has two normal tests in a row. And what we see in the gynecological routine, it is the exam being collected once a year and in women under 25 years old, when it should not be collected”.
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The article above was edited by Giovana Lins Barbosa.
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